Where the Rainbow Goes
by Lexie Jayne
Summary: When Jondy escapes Manticore, she has to survive in our world. Her time at school changes her perspective on the other rogue X5's.
1. Beginning

I own none of the characters you recognize, and only the characterization of Jondy. Mr James Cameron and That Other Guy own the characters you recognize.   
  
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centerbJanuary 19th 2010bcenter   
  
Sister Louise looked skeptically at the man in front of her. "Explain it to me again, my good man," Louise retorted. "I'm a little hard of hearing."   
  
The man glared at the woman in front of him, and then at the child beside him. "I worked in Gillette, in a experiment lab called Manticore. They have built these children to be the perfect soldiers. They torture them." Louise's face softened and the man played on that weakness. "I found Jondy when twelve got out. She's almost 10 years old. It's not safe if I take guardianship of her - I was hoping that the Convent would take her in and raise her."   
  
Jondy stood completely straight, listening to the conversation. Dr Lee had been very nice to her since Zack freed them, but she was still scared.   
  
"But Dr Lee," Louise sighed, "How? This convent is attached to a Catholic School. She'd have to be a student. What about her parents'?"   
  
"Jondy has none. If you don't take her in, as a student or a companion, I'll have to leave her in Seattle. If she is taught nothing about our world, she will be captured and, ultimately, murdered," Dr Lee said.   
  
Louise smiled at Jondy. "She shall be accepted into our convent as an orphan - on our terms."   
  
"Of course," Dr Lee nodded.   
  
"Excellent. She shall change her name during her stay here," Louise said. "And she will attend classes during semester."   
  
"Anything - just protect Jondy," Dr Lee handed Sister Louise an envelope filled with cash. "Supply her with anything - fake identicards or anything she may need."   
  
"And, Dr Lee?" Sister stopped him. "Any other of these poor angels you track down, bring to me. I believe we can take care of them."   
  
Jondy watched the scientist leave in his car. She felt sad. Her crew cut was a tiny bit longer than before, but not yet significant. Her clothes were a pair of overalls and an ancient sweater.   
  
"Jondy," Sister Louise leant down. "Before I organize anything for you, you must pick a new name."   
  
Jondy shook her head. "I chose Jondy because that's who I want to be," she stated.   
  
Louise shook her head. "But lots of people have two names - just until Manticore stops looking for you, okay?" Jondy nodded.   
  
"Ok, now how about Eleanor? Eleanor Lang," Louise nodded. Jondy smiled. "Let's find you a bed and some dinner. And then you'll meet the other Sisters of our Convent."   
  
Jondy followed Louise inside the Catholic Convent. This was Eleanor's new life.   
  
*~*~*~*~*~*   
Jondy looked around her room. It resembled the Manticore barracks far too much for Jondy to want to spend a lot of time in it. Sisters' Sophie and Marie were arranging another room for her in the Boarding House with the other students', next semester.   
  
It had been three months since Jondy had come to the convent. Her hair covered her entire head and most of her barcode, though. She kept very quiet all the time, never talked back to any of the nuns' and was very tidy.   
  
There was one nun there, Lia, who was only 20 years old. She was Jondy's babysitter. Elli was what everyone called Jondy - only Louise knew her true name.   
  
Lia bustled in, her face smiling. "Good Morning, Elli," she said, placing a breakfast tray on a table.   
  
"Good morning, Lia," Jondy looked at breakfast. Milk, porridge and toast. Standard breakfast.   
  
"The students' return tomorrow, back to classes, Elli."   
  
"What do they learn?" Jondy wolfed down her porridge.   
  
"How to read and write and the places in the world and lots of stuff," Lia said, not expecting Elli to know anything.   
  
"Zack taught me Braille, Morse code and Light Signals. Tinga taught me all the Geography and past wars. We were all taught to read and write," Jondy replied, knowing everyone doubted her abilities to read and write.   
  
Lia looked surprised. "What languages do you speak, Elli?"   
  
"French," Jondy said. "Each group had one person speak a different language so things were interesting." So we could communicate with every enemy we'd come across.   
  
"Well, that's good," Lia said encouragingly.   
  
Jondy nodded. *I miss Max and Krit and Zack. * 


	2. Learning

Jondy got used to the students that bustled around the school - all those rich, well off girls who had never wanted for anything in their lives. They paraded the front hall in their clothes and teased her about her very, very short hair. The nuns' spoilt her, buying her dolls and making them clothes. Some students' parents sent her dolls, books and clothes, to make them look good. In the end, Jondy's room looked more like a Pre-Pulse toyshop than a genetically engineered killing machine's bedroom.  
  
Jondy didn't spend much time in class - she had been taught a lot at Manticore, geography, history, reading, writing, mathematics and French.   
  
Sister Jude was a crabby woman, whom Jondy avoided like the plague. Louise had let it slip that Jondy was genetically engineered and some Nuns' believed she was an insult to the church. Jude was one who strongly supported this theory.  
  
Jude was the head cook, with a team of six, including Lia. There was barely fifty students' remaining at the convent school, as after the Pulse only the rich and privileged could afford these shorts of schools.  
  
It was autumn and classes were on all through the school. No older girls to tease her and no young girls to glare at her. The school cat didn't like Jondy much, and Jondy really wasn't in the mood to 'play' with one of her dolls.   
  
Jondy sat on the top step, looking at her red overalls, thinking. 'Angus the cat is kinda getting fat. I'm sure he could stand to lose some pounds. And Lia won't let me run around inside…' Jondy grinned evilly and tumbled off to find Angus, who was residing in a student's room - Lily Turner's room.  
  
Even though Jondy had been told not to go into any of the girls' rooms, she decided that that rule probably didn't count when she was looking for Angus. She wouldn't touch anything.  
  
Lily had left her room in pristine condition - her dressing table was covered with cosmetics and jewellery. Jondy, who knew nothing about cosmetics or jewellery, fingered the lipstick and mascara, and managed to knock a large, crystal bottle of perfume off the dressing table. Jondy watched, half horrified, half-curious, as the crystal bottle crumbled into delicate shards, as the pink scent drenched the white carpet. Jondy eyed the rose pink stain on the carpet and then glanced at the other bottles of perfume - blue, purple, gold and pink.   
  
Jondy should have known better at age 10, than to pour coloured perfume all over white carpet, but at Manticore, she hadn't been taught basic manners or logic.  
  
Just as she poured the purple perfume onto the carpet, a foul smell filled the air - both perfumes were exceptionally strong - especially to a sensitive X5 nose. Wincing at the sharp smell, Jondy turned away to find Angus. Stumbling on the corner of the rug, Jondy cut her cheek and the palms of her hands on the shards of the perfume bottle. Shaking off the injury, Jondy looked under the bed, and found a serious lack of the enormous ginger fur ball. Jondy shrugged and decided to go and find Angus in the library and ask again if she could go outside. Then it hit Jondy what a mess she'd made - the perfume was everywhere and there were smears of blood on the pale blue doona. Jondy winced. So much for not touching anything. Jondy slipped out of Lily's room and back to her own.  
  
Classes stopped at 12:30 for lunch and a short break. Lily was one of the most popular girls at the school and often 'held court' in her room. Jondy winced as she heard Lily enter her room and scream.  
  
At Manticore, when Jondy got scared, Krit, Syl, Tinga, Max, Zane and Zack protected her. Here, there was only the wrath of the nuns and Lily Turner.  
  
Jondy looked at the door. Lydecker had taught her how to forget everything and to lie. Angus made that mess. She was reading a book - had been all morning.  
  
Lily and Sister Louise burst into her room. "Eleanor! The mess in Lily's room! You were forbidden in the girls' rooms!"  
  
Jondy lay down her book and looked at Louise. "I haven't been into Lily's room since I came here," Jondy said, looking suitably puzzled.   
  
Louise frowned, but looked at the child's face. She looked completely innocent.  
  
"I'm sorry, Eleanor, dear. It must have been the cat," Louise hurried out, with a scowling Lily following her. Jondy looked guiltily at the healing cuts on her hands and turned back to her book. 


	3. Reuniting

AN: Found this on the hardrive. I was trying to capture the boarding school air. I wrote this around six months ago, so it might not be completely accurate.  
  
  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Jondy stayed away from the other bedrooms after the perfume incident – but Lily Turner took an instant dislike to her from that day on.  
  
For some reason, Angus became her new best friend – the cat spent every living minute beside Jondy. Secretly, Louise believed it was because of the feline DNA, but never mentioned that to Jondy.  
  
Jondy and Angus's favourite past time was to play Tag – Angus would charge down the main hallway and Jondy would try and find him. When she did, he tried to find her. Jondy could get away with hiding in classes or in the Chapel. Angus hid under beds or in the kitchen, where Jondy never ventured because of Jude.  
  
It was that day when Dr Lee returned to the convent, bringing along two children. Cold and bedraggled, Syl and Krit had been living on the streets since they escaped and looked awful. Syl was about half of Jondy's size and she was a year older – Krit was tall and skinny and would barely pass for ten, let alone the twelve he was.  
  
"Sister Louise, this is Syl and this is Krit. Two more of the X5's," Dr Lee said sadly. Over the four and a half months he had left Jondy here, he had been searching for the other children. Manticore hit men were on his tail and had already murdered three other doctors and Dr Lee's family.  
  
All of a sudden, a ginger coloured streak flew down the hall, making even Syl and Krit blink. Shortly after, Jondy came running in, wearing red overalls and red sneakers; two stubby pigtails tied with red ribbon.  
  
"That's not fair!" Jondy yelled at the cat, not even pausing at the sight of visitors. Ignoring everything except revenge on the sly feline named Angus, Jondy dove towards the laundry in hopes of trapping Angus.  
  
"Thank you, Sir," Louise said.  
  
"They can remain here until the New Year, then they must move on. I shall try and fetch them, but Manticore have a hit team after me," Dr Lee nodded. "I've found the trail of a girl named Tinga and one named Brin. I shall replace Syl and Krit with that pair if they settle down long enough to find them."  
  
Syl looked at the large paintings that hung in the hall of the school. There were award winning paintings by students. Photos of children smiling. And that girl was her sister? She didn't seem like the Jondy back at Manticore.  
  
"Krit, Syl, come with me," Sister Louise said, as Dr Lee walked out. "You'll be sleeping in your sister's room. I'm sure you'll fit into some of Jondy's clothes, Syl and we have some clothes for you Krit."  
  
Sister Louise made both children take a bath and both got dressed – Syl was in jeans and a woollen jumper and Krit was in a pair of jeans and a t shirt.  
  
"As you both know, this is a girl's school. You don't take any classes and you eat your meals either in your room or in the kitchen, as not to upset any of the girls. You have a couple of chores around the school, but mainly you can do what you want. Come down to the kitchen with me and we can all have lunch together."  
  
Jondy sat at a huge wooden table, waiting for Sister Louise and her siblings.  
  
"Syl! Krit!" she leapt up and gave them a hug. "Are you all right?"  
  
"Yup," Krit nodded, taking a seat next to Jondy. "What are we having?"  
  
"Cause it's so cold, Jude made soup and toasted sandwiches," Jondy said. "One of the patrons supplied the school with all this fresh food. We've got to wait until all the student's have been served before we get ours."  
  
"What if they run out?" Syl wondered aloud, sitting opposite them.  
  
"It has never happened," Jondy grinned. "Like the time, before the Pulse, that Lia made cherry tarts and lasagne. There was so much left that I have third helpings and I was allowed five tarts!"  
  
"We weren't allowed second helpings at Manticore," Krit grinned.  
  
"Those energy bats and museli stuff is hardly food," Jondy said. "Jude makes the best waffles on Sunday!"  
  
"Waffles?" Syl asked, as Louise bustled in.  
  
"You can serve these three, Jude," she called, sitting down.  
  
It was creamy pumpkin soup with sour cream and chives – both Krit and Syl almost spat it out when they first tried it.  
  
"It tastes weird especially after those energy bars," Jondy said, nodding. "Have some bread with it. Or a toasted sandwich and you'll get used to it."  
  
Soon, all three bowls were empty and the plate of toasted sandwiches was being attacked.  
  
"I like the cheese and salami ones!" Syl grinned, as she took a bite.  
  
"The ones with cheese and pineapple," Krit said, as he got himself a drink of water.  
  
"Don't eat too much cause Jude might give us some dessert," Jondy whispered.  
  
"Louise thought you two kids might not have had cake before, so we thought you could have extra dessert," Jude placed a huge wedge of cake between them – layers and layers of chocolate and cream. "You're allowed to come and have midnight snacks, but only on the stuff I labelled. If you get hungry ask little Elli or Jondy or whatever her name is and she'll find you something."  
  
They went and played soccer outside for the rest of the afternoon. Soon, Syl's lips were blue with the cold and Jondy claimed she couldn't feel her feet.  
  
"C'mon, there's still an hour till dinner – we can make cocoa."  
  
Having never tried half of the gourmet treats that Jondy had come accustomed to, Syl and Krit followed her into the extremely quiet school.  
  
"Everyone goes to the chapel and prays until dinner," Jondy explained, reaching for the tin of chocolate powder. "Jude'll come and start dinner soon – probably a casserole or some lasagne. Maybe pie. But we don't have to come down till 7:15. Krit, six of those jam tarts in the fridge and we'll take this to the library with us."  
  
Krit and Syl were exceptionally dazed at this lifestyle – eating whenever you were hungry and you could have second and third helpings (and fourth, as Krit discovered.) To be allowed to sit around just talking. Both Syl and Krit were taken with the tarts, so Jondy gave both of hers to them.  
  
"I can not wait till Lia makes her pumpkin scones," Jondy said, as she taught them how to play Scrabble. "And maybe Louise will give us money to go to the lolly shop – since the pulse, it's pretty expensive, but sometimes she lets me. And Meg – a nun you haven't met yet – she set up a television in my room so I can watc it if I cannot sleep. Maybe some of the girls will lend us some videos. Sarah Miller lent me 'Winnie the Pooh' once and that was cool. Lily's got the best collection in the school but she doesn't like me much."  
  
After Syl won scrabble, they went down for dinner. Which was lasagne and bread – eating seemed to be the best part of the day to Krit – since they escaped, Syl had been stealing bits and pieces of food. Nothing very nice.  
  
"Sister Louise, can I take Syl and Krit to the lolly shop tomorrow?" Jondy asked, pouring herself a glass of lemon cordial.  
  
"I'll give you a dollar share between you – you know the school isn't made of money, Jondy," Louise admonished. All the Nun's had realised that 'Eleanor's' real name was Jondy by now and rarely referred to her as 'Elli' any more.  
  
After they washed up their plates and had showers, they went to Jondy's room – where two more beds had been added.  
  
"Wow," Syl murmured, looking around the room. "This is like those old fashioned books Lydecker used to read us."  
  
Jondy nodded. "It is. Sometimes I wish I was back there, but its safe here and we get good food."  
  
Krit nodded. "Yeah. Syl and I haven't liked the Outside."  
  
All three children climbed into one bed.  
  
"We've missed you, Jondy."  
  
"I missed you too." 


End file.
